CSK vs PBKS 41st Match Prediction

CSK vs PBKS Team Previews

Chennai Super Kings

The Super Kings failed to reach the knockout stages in the previous season but have bounced back pretty well this time around. They have lost just 3 of the 8 matches played so far and are comfortably in the top-4.

The top-order batting has been one of the biggest strengths for the Super Kings this season. Devon Conway has led the way for the other batsmen with 4 consecutive half-centuries and is the leading run-scorer for the team so far. His strike-rate has been issue but the consistency is so good, that one or two off-games will not affect his place in the eleven.

He has been ably supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad at the top of the order, who is having another excellent season. We think Gaikwad is only rivaled by Yashasvi Jaiswal when it comes to starting off the blocks quickly.

 Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane have been pretty solid in the middle order. Both of them are being used an enforcers by MS Dhoni. Rahane is more comfortable against pace while Dube takes down spin with tremendous ease.

Ambati Rayudu has struggled so far but to be fair, he has also not had too many opportunities. CSK does have depth in their batting with all-rounders Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja, as well as MS Dhoni and can afford to be u;tra aggressive throughout the inning. Strike rate, rather than consistency, seems to be what the team is after.

Talking about the bowling, Tushar Deshpande has picked up 14 wickets so far and is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the season. He has, however, been very expensive, giving away runs at close to 11 runs per over. He is likely to be joined by Matheesha Pathirana in the new ball attack.

The spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali have done a decent job, taking 18 wickets between them. They could play a big role in Chepauk, where there is always some assistance for the spinners.

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings will be pretty disappointed with their performance in their latest outing as they were thrashed by the Lucknow Super Giants by 56 runs. As a result, they have now slipped to the bottom half of the table. It was a terrible performance by the bowlers as the Super Giants’ batsmen ran riot at the Mohali Stadium to post the second-highest team total in IPL history.

Rahul Chahar was the most economical bowler of the lot, but once again went wicketless, while the seamers including Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, and Sam Curran has economy rates of over 12.5. Looking at the performance of the bowlers over this season, Arshdeep has picked up 14 wickets so far but has received little support from the other end.

Kagiso Rabada, who missed a couple of matches, is now back in the squad and can be expected to play a central role but his performance in the previous match was quite poor. 

The spinners, Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Singh have struggled to pick up wickets. Going up against a strong CSK batting lineup with this bowling attack is not a good recipe for success.

Shikhar Dhawan has recovered from his injury and is now back at the top of the order where he will once again pair up with Prabhsimran Singh. There is something about the manner of approach of the opening batters that we do not like. Prabhsimran Singh seems to be a bit too reckless while Dhawan can be too sedate.

Atharva Taide has shown flashes of brilliance and will come in at the number-3 slot. The middle order, including Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, and Jitesh Sharma will need to play a bigger role here. There is obvious talent and depth available to PBKS but they need to play with more freedom and perhaps push up their most important players a bit.